The Secret Projects of the German Kriegsmarine in World War II gives a comprehensive overview of advanced German naval building, and excitingly includes previously unseen, secret projects. This book is relatively short, yet densely packed with historical naval insight. It will thus appeal to the busy reader interested in boat modeling, or indeed anyone who is fascinated with naval warfare. The designs covered by the title are wide-ranging, from U-boats and hydrofoils, to submarines, explosive motorboats and even aircraft carriers. Not simply presenting information on functioning prototypes, this book highlights a number of theoretical projects for hydrofoils, landing craft and heavy surface units, among many others. Also included are technical examinations of the ‘Z-Plan’ Kreigsmarine build up and the ill-fated Graf Zeppelin, which was abandoned halfway through the war, amid wrangling between the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. Secret Projects of the German Kriegsmarine in World War II features little-studied designs, like tracked amphibious vehicles equipped with breathing gear, as well as the Luftwaffe-designed Siebel ferries that saw considerable service on the Eastern front. All the information is extremely well-illustrated, being accompanied by detailed drawings, action-packed photographs and artist’s impressions of the different crafts. The historical snapshots, combined with modern, labeled drawings, help to put the past in perspective and bring to life the naval building projects.

Describes the top secret missions and projects of both sides during World War II and discusses the impact of these projects on the outcome of the war and their effect on the course of history.

“Outstanding . . . covers the major units starting with the Deutschland Class, through the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, to the Bismarck and Tirpitz.” —WW2 Cruisers The Kriegsmarine’s capital ships—Deutschland, Admiral Scheer, Graf Spee, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Bismarck, and Tirpitz—continue to generate intense interest among warship enthusiasts, despite the fact that no new source of information has been unearthed in decades. What has come to light, however, is a growing number of photographs, many from private albums and some that lay forgotten in obscure archives. These include many close-ups and onboard shots of great value to modelmakers, as well as rare action photos taken during wartime operations. This book is a careful selection of the best of these, but on a grand scale, with around one hundred images devoted to each ship, allowing in-depth coverage of its whole career, from launching and fitting out to whatever fate the war had waiting for it. For sake of completeness, there are even sections reproducing the various design studies that led to each class, while an appendix covers the uncompleted Graf Zeppelin, Germany’s only attempt to build an aircraft carrier, the vessel which clearly displaced the battleship as the capital ship of the world’s navies during the war. Essays on technical backgrounds and design origins by the well-known expert Siegfried Breyer and explanatory captions by Miroslaw Skwiot draw out the full significance of this magnificent collection of photos. “Highly recommended for those who wish to admire seven of the most magnificent warships built anywhere in the twentieth century. We will certainly never see their like again.” —Journal of the Australian Naval Institute

How close did Hitler come to his dream of developing nuclear weapons? What evidence is there for the design, testing and production of such weapons, and their carrier systems? With this first volume in a series of at least three, Friedrich Georg has begun to answer these questions in great detail. The result is a groundbreaking new book on this topic. This first volume describes the efforts of the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine to design and produce carrier-systems for the nuclear weapons the scientists of the Third Reich were developing. Following an introductory section in which the author outlines the Nazi atom bomb programme, Georg then investigates the enormous variety of craft the Luftwaffe began to either adapt, or develop anew, that would be used to carry such weapons of mass destruction. These included the search for an intercontinental 'Amerikabomber', including the innovative Horten Ho XVIII. Lighter designs, such as the Arado Ar E 555, Messerschmitt P 1107 & 1108, and Junkers EF 132 & 140 are also described. The various atom bombs themselves are thoroughly investigated, from the 1-ton to the massive 30-ton variety. Information about the variety of carrier systems being developed-and in at least one case, actually built-by the Kriegsmarine is also provided. Finally, the author investigates the reasons why Germany ultimately failed to produce the atom bomb. Appendices provide the most up-to-date research on a variety of topics, including the small number of craft Japan was developing to carry atom bombs, and the Soviet capture of German nuclear research centres in the Baltic region at the end of the war. Throughout, the author is keen to only rely on the most reliable sources, and lays many myths to rest in the process. The result is a truly compelling and groundbreaking work.

[Includes 23 maps and 31 illustrations] This volume describes two campaigns that the Germans conducted in their Northern Theater of Operations. The first they launched, on 9 April 1940, against Denmark and Norway. The second they conducted out of Finland in partnership with the Finns against the Soviet Union. The latter campaign began on 22 June 1941 and ended in the winter of 1944-45 after the Finnish Government had sued for peace. The scene of these campaigns by the end of 1941 stretched from the North Sea to the Arctic Ocean and from Bergen on the west coast of Norway, to Petrozavodsk, the former capital of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic. It faced east into the Soviet Union on a 700-mile-long front, and west on a 1,300-mile sea frontier. Hitler regarded this theater as the keystone of his empire, and, after 1941, maintained in it two armies totaling over a half million men. In spite of its vast area and the effort and worry which Hitler lavished on it, the Northern Theater throughout most of the war constituted something of a military backwater. The major operations which took place in the theater were overshadowed by events on other fronts, and public attention focused on the theaters in which the strategically decisive operations were expected to take place. Remoteness, German security measures, and the Russians’ well-known penchant for secrecy combined to keep information concerning the Northern Theater down to a mere trickle, much of that inaccurate. Since the war, through official and private publications, a great deal more has become known. The present volume is based in the main on the greatest remaining source of unexploited information, the captured German military and naval records. In addition a number of the participants on the German side have very generously contributed from their personal knowledge and experience.

This book offers an outstanding visual record of the history, uniforms and gear used by the Kriegsmarine. Over 500 pages, 2600 photographs (most unpublished before) accompany the clear, explanatory text.

In the years after World War I, the defeated and much-reduced German Army developed new clothing and personal equipment that drew upon the lessons learned in the trenches. In place of the wide variety of uniforms and insignia that had been worn by the Imperial German Army, a standardized approach was followed, culminating in the uniform items introduced in the 1930s as the Nazi Party came to shape every aspect of German national life. The outbreak of war in 1939 prompted further adaptations and simplifications of uniforms and insignia, while the increasing use of camouflaged items and the accelerated pace of weapons development led to the appearance of new clothing and personal equipment. Medals and awards increased in number as the war went on, with grades being added for existing awards and new decorations introduced to reflect battlefield feats. Specialists such as mountain troops, tank crews and combat engineers were issued distinctive uniform items and kit, while the ever-expanding variety of fronts on which the German Army fought – from the North African desert to the Russian steppe – prompted the rapid development of clothing and equipment for different climates and conditions. In addition, severe shortages of raw materials and the demands of clothing and equipping an army that numbered in the millions forced the simplification of many items and the increasing use of substitute materials in their manufacture. In this fully illustrated book noted authority Dr Stephen Bull examines the German Army's wide range of uniforms, personal equipment, weapons, medals and awards, and offers a comprehensive guide to the transformation that the German Army soldier underwent in the period from September 1939 to May 1945.